Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney answers questions on Canada's game

Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney was in London Tuesday for the announcement of the organization’s foundation gala and golf event June 18-19, 2018 in the city.

You coached the last Canadian men’s Olympic team without NHLers to a silver medal in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. Do you expect the 2018 team to be on the podium?

Renney: “That’s our intention. It’s uphill for Canada. We’re scouring the world putting a team together. Also NCAA players, we’re looking at the American league on AHL contracts, and we won’t forget about major junior hockey. We’re looking there, as well, as much as that’s a stretch. The bottom line is we’ll put a team together that will be symbolic of the spirit of the Olympic Games and the intention Canada has every single time they play — and that’s to win. It’s a different feel. It’s not best on best, but it’s Canadians representing their country as best they can to do something special — and it’s their turn for whatever reasons. I don’t even care about the circumstances (NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation’s failure to hammer out an agreement). This has been Plan A for a long time and rightfully so. There will be 23 great stories that will be told as Olympians and we’re looking forward to it.”

One of the loudest complaints in the minor hockey rinks this year has been about the move to smaller ice for the youngest players. How do you respond to that uproar?

Renney: “That sentiment is really of a very small percentage across the country. That being said, we understand the game has been presented a certain way and delivered a certain way to those adults that make those decisions. My guess is kids just want to play and it’s up to us that the environment is safe, challenging and worth the time and effort that parents put into this to be a part of it, and to a degree, the money. There’s no question of that, as well. We believe strongly in cross-ice hockey as being the experience required for five- to eight-year-olds. It’s about skill acquisition, making sur e the experience on the ice doesn’t leave a single player behind. I’m all in when it’s age appropriate and I’ll pound that drum as hard as anybody.”

It feels like every year, minor coaches are asked to upgrade their training or do more courses. Are we asking too much of these volunteers?

Renney: “It’s hard to say. We probably ask too much of our volunteers 10 years ago, 20 and 30, and even before that when you had to plough the fields and do the chores before you got anywhere close to a rink. My estimation is it’s all relative and the greatest form of philanthropy is the giving of your time. It’s got nothing to do with writing a cheque and everybody’s got time.”

Is Respect In Sport — the mandatory parent program course which a member of each hockey family is required to take — working in our rinks?

Renney: “I think it is. We are a microcosm of society in lots of ways. We have our problems and issues, as does the rest of the population in their day-to-day activities. What we need to do is what we hope everyone does and that’s take responsibility for those things that go awry and understand how we can do better. Respect in Sport is huge, it reflects respect in life and allows people to develop and grow to what their potential would suggest, and it’s not just the game of hockey.”

Enrolment in hockey is a constant issue. In a lot of Ontario markets, it’s down and the price to play hockey continues to climb. How do we attract kids back to the rink?

Renney: “Make the rink a destination. Again, the environment is the responsibility of adults. We have to make sure we do the right thing and is that playing 75 to 80 games a year when you’re nine and 10 years old? Is the right thing (to) select hockey when you’re five and six? Is the right thing worrying about point totals, how many games you’ve played or is the right thing participating, making sure the environment is conducive to having a great time? Not just for those on the ice, but those who watch, as well. It’s placing a premium on why we do this and the ‘why’ is not the National Hockey League. The why is the experience and if we can embrace that again, we’ll be fine.”